Africa is facing a massive wake-up call as international aid budgets shrink, forcing governments to rethink how they fund healthcare from within.
According to Serah Malaba, Co-CEO of the African-led non-profit Tiko, the biggest economic mistake African leaders are making is treating the “triple threat” facing adolescent girls—HIV, sexual violence, and teen pregnancy—as separate, temporary projects funded by foreign donors. This fragmentation forces girls to navigate a confusing maze: going to one clinic for a pregnancy test, another for an HIV screening, and somewhere else entirely for trauma counseling after experiencing violence.
The cost of this neglect is staggering. Failing to invest in girls’ healthcare could cost the global economy $110 trillion by 2050, whereas every dollar spent on adolescent health yields a tenfold return as girls stay in school and enter the workforce.
Malaba is calling on African governments to stop treating adolescent health as a footnote to maternal care. Instead, as nations design new national health insurance packages and primary healthcare funds, they must explicitly ring-fence domestic funding for girls. By unifying services under a single public-private ecosystem of care, African nations can finally secure both their girls’ futures and true economic independence.
